[CQ-Contest] RTTY down low in the band

[Michael Keane K1MK]

On 10/21/2008 10:22 PM, KI9A at aol.com wrote:
> Two things here. 1) Why do the rtty guys find it necessary to go so far low
> in the band?? This wasn't CQWW RTTY.

No, it wasn't CQWW RTTY; it was the JARTS WW contest. JARTS is the 
Japanese Amateur Radio Teleprinter Society. The Japanese RTTY segment on 
40m is 7025-7045 kHz; they can't operate up "high" in the band. 2200Z is 
just after sunrise in JA. I can see why the 4 SAs and the 5C5 station 
would want to be in that part of the band at that time. The US guy is 
there because that where the activity from SA and AF is.

> 2) What happened to common courtesy? OK, I understand sometimes cw guys  fire
> up high in the band. But, that's kinda rare.

And trying to make domestic contacts in a unique section of a band 
that's capable of supporting WW communications... is what?

Just how high in the band do you think is high? 7040 kHz has been the 
center of (DX) RTTY activity for decades. CW activity around there is 
not what one would call kinda rare. Any "higher" in the band is SSB for 
everyone outside the US.

40m is a small band (internationally) and it's just going to get 
crowded. Something is always "out of place" like SSB this weekend :-)

There's almost alway more to the story than we might think at first.

73,
Mike K1MK